PrefLetter

What are Preferred Shares?

Preferred shares are "hybrids" of common shares and bonds, sharing some of the attributes of each element and having the investment characteristics of a tax-efficient bond. James has written numerous articles describing the various types of preferred shares, their strengths and weaknesses, and disclosing some of the elements of a thorough analytical approach. Links to some of the articles written in this process are displayed throughout this website, but why not start with a brief introduction to preferred shares?

How Can PrefLetter Help an Investor?

Every edition of PrefLetter contains at least one recommendation from each of the main categories of preferred share. These issues will be high-quality - James is a fixed-income analyst, analyzing the yield curve. Low quality issues behave more like stocks than like bonds and are disdained.

PrefLetter skims the cream from the available investments, reliably advising which issues are "best in class" allowing investors to focus on their investments, not catalogues of call dates, annual dividends, retractions and all the other special features of preferreds. Subscribe today!

Who is James Hymas?

James started his fixed-income career at Greydanus, Boeckh & Associates Inc. in 1992, when it was responsible for about $250-million in assets under management. By the time the firm was taken over, James was Chief Operating Officer, responsible for all research and portfolio management within the firm - with $1.7-billion under management. More...

Preferred shares, paying Canadian Eligible Dividends, are an excellent choice for investors seeking fixed income in a taxable account. Why subject returns to a tax rate of 46% when the dividend tax credit in a taxable account can reduce the rate significantly - to the point where (for an investor subject to Ontario's highest marginal rate of tax) each pre-tax dollar of dividend income is worth over $1.40 in pre-tax interest?

Many investors know this, but are hesitant to make such an investment. There is a wide variety of preferred shares available - floating rate, split-share, retractible, perpetual ... - and even the terminology used to describe the shares is an obstacle to understanding the nature of the investment choices. And once the choices are understood, there is very little comparative information available to allow investors to make an informed choice. Many investors throw up their hands in despair at this point and put their money into GICs.

Don't be one of those investors. James Hymas formed Hymas Investment Management to specialize in this asset class and to use his fixed-income background to subject the preferred share marketplace to rigorous, quantitative examination. The software used to analyze the market is designed for institutions. The fund is restricted to "accredited" investors only.

Order a Single Issue or a Full Year!

But now, the end-results of years of study are available to ordinary investors by subscription - in a format that allows investors to to make portfolio management decisions that make sense for their own circumstances. This website provides a description of PrefLetter and explains why it is indispensable when creating a tax-efficient hiqh-quality preferred share portfolio - suited to your needs. A subscription may be the most cost-effective investment you've ever made.